Xia Anyan chatted with the two for a few more minutes before they went their separate ways.
The next day, Wang Chunlan and Li Cuihua arrived early and took Xia Anyan away.
They had arranged with the people in the brigade to bring people over to select vegetables today.
Xia Anyan was worried that Sun Xiuzhi might need to talk to her, so she said something before leaving.
Sun Xiuzhi was very touched. Knowing that Xia Anyan was going to buy vegetables, she planned to do something.
Xia Anyan and her friends went by bicycle. When the three of them arrived, the whole team was working on the ground.
But to be honest, there's not much work to do in the fields in Dong Province now. Besides weeding and loosening the soil every day, there's not much else to do. At most, you can cut pig feed to save for feeding the pigs in winter. Everything else is very easy.
"Look, those two women came to us a couple of days ago saying they wanted to buy groceries. Anyone with a lot of groceries should hurry over to the brigade headquarters. Maybe they'll be chosen and can exchange them for military ration coupons."
Some things can't be bought with ordinary tickets; you have to use military tickets.
Therefore, many of them wait for this time of year.
No one knows who shouted this, but many people stood up from the ground and ran towards the brigade headquarters.
When the scorekeeper saw them like this, he threatened to deduct their work points.
joke.
They only earn a few cents a day, but they can earn a lot by exchanging the vegetables at home. They're not stupid; they know what's more important.
Seeing him like this, the scorekeeper's wife got so angry that she kicked him: "Pah, what are you deducting points for? Didn't you see that the team leader's daughter-in-law also ran away? Everyone is trying to find ways to sell vegetables, but you're the only one who's stubborn."
"You hurry home and take all the dried vegetables we've dried to the brigade headquarters. Maybe those comrades will want them."
There are quite a few people who think this way.
So when Xia Anyan and her two companions arrived at the brigade headquarters, they found quite a few people waiting there.
Dried vegetables, fresh vegetables, and semi-dried/semi-wet vegetables are all available.
Xia Anyan didn't know how to choose, so she handed everything over to Wang Chunlan and Li Cuihua.
These two people have seen a lot, and they can tell good from bad and clean from unclean at a glance.
Some people's dried vegetables are very dark in color, which doesn't look appetizing.
Some people's dried vegetables were already moldy, but they still tried to pass them off as high-quality ones, and the two of them discovered it.
Xia Anyan really learned a lot this time. She didn't expect them to be so capable; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had sharp eyes.
"Hey girl, come take a look. These dried potatoes are great. They're bright, golden, and thin. They're perfect for stewing with meat."
Wang Chunlan pointed to the half-sack of dried potatoes in front of her and asked Xia Anyan to take a look.
Xia Anyan stepped forward and grabbed a handful from inside.
Wang Chunlan knew better, so she reached down to the bottom and grabbed a handful.
Seeing that the top and bottom were identical, Xia Anyan was very satisfied and nodded with a smile: "Okay, then I'll take this one."
Those who were chosen were naturally happy.
Then I took other things that were drying at home.
They have everything imaginable, from dried eggplant and eggplant strips to zucchini strips and cucumber chunks—all very good.
Everything else was sun-dried very well, and Xia Anyan liked it very much.
But when she saw the cucumber chunks, she was stunned.
"Oh dear, Auntie, what is this dark stuff?" Xia Anyan's disgust was clearly evident on her face.
The aunt was about to explain when Li Cuihua stepped forward and pulled Xia Anyan aside, saying, "Sister, this is the correct way to dry cucumbers."
"This is firewood ash, the stuff left over after we burn firewood."
"Don't look down on it just because it's ugly or dirty. Actually, this is a testament to the wisdom of the people. If you preserve it properly and wash it clean, the dried cucumbers can still be bright green, without any strange smell, and taste even better."
Xia Anyan still couldn't quite believe it.
Is this really how it is?
"Comrade, I'll wash you right now. You'll see what it looks like when I've dried it." Seeing that Xia Anyan was still hesitating, the villager quickly waved to his husband and asked him to bring a ladle of water.
Then he randomly grabbed a few dried cucumbers from the bag and threw them into the water.
After shaking it to wash away the layer of dust, the bright green dried cucumbers inside were revealed.
She grinned, revealing a set of slightly yellow teeth, and leaned closer to Xia Anyan: "Comrade, look, these are cucumbers I dried myself. After washing them, there won't be any dirt. You can then put them in a pot and stir-fry or stew them."
Xia Anyan looked at the clean dried cucumbers, and then at the dark ones.
While she was still hesitating about whether to take them or not, Li Cuihua simply raised her hand and said, "Okay, I'll take them all."
Xia Anyan didn't say anything and looked at a few more companies.
Some people in this group are not clean, and the things they dry are a bit dirty, but some people are really dedicated, and the things they dry are all quite good.
When they got back, all three of their back seats were fully strapped in.
Xia Anyan smiled more: "Sister-in-law Cuihua, Sister-in-law Chunlan, thank you so much. I definitely wouldn't have been able to buy these things if it weren't for your help."
Both of them were very happy.
"Girl, this isn't much. It'll be gone in no time for your family to finish it."
"In the afternoon, let's go for a stroll around my hometown's village. I know which family has the best dried vegetables, which family is the cleanest, and which family makes the best food. I'll take you directly to their homes."
"Just now, I was thinking of buying some more fresh vegetables from that brigade, but since you've been staying alone in the family compound lately, I didn't mention it."
"You have no idea how troublesome it is for one person to clean this up. In previous years, Chunlan and I would work together every year. She would help me clean up, and then I would help her clean up. It would take several days to finish. We were both so tired that our backs ached. Sometimes, if we didn't clean enough, it wouldn't be enough to eat for the whole winter," Li Cuihua said, pursing her lips.
She had originally planned to help Xia Anyan get more this year with Wang Chunlan.
But the two families need quite a lot of dried vegetables, and if all three families work together, it's hard to say when they'll finish.
If it takes too long and we miss these few days of good weather, then we won't be able to dry good vegetables.
Xia Anyan understood. She nodded and said, "It's alright, sister-in-law. After we've visited all the nearby brigades in a couple of days, I'll call my grandpa and dad back and have them help dry the vegetables. The weather should be pretty good these days, so we should be able to finish in time."
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